Chapter 6: Dolly Goes Too Far
Cody's POV
It was around 5PM when me and Destiny were returning home from our little shopping spree at the centre in Westfield. With Destiny being the one of the Triple D to care deeply about the world, she often browsed items that had the themes of cute animals or related to the environment which was often why she had us shopped at places that provided clothing that was one hundred percent animal friendly cotton. Can't say I disagree with her, I'd be kinda disgusted if I ever heard of any tailors that used anthro fur like Cruella De Vil had intended many years ago. I meanwhile often looked around the centre to see if there were any potential girls that I could possibly get to know, none of them seemed to stand out however and any that did whenever I went to talk to them, Destiny would drag me with her to the next shop. At least she was nice enough to get me a bigger wardrobe of clothes alongside her personal purchases.
I was about to open the door for Destiny until I briefly heard something from inside. Sounded like two voices yelling at each other. Opening the door and letting Destiny in, I came in and placed my bags aside for later before following the noise to the living room to find Dolly and Dylan face each other with the angriest of faces.
"You're 28 years old for dog's sake, why can't you just be responsible for once?!" Dylan exclaimed in frustration with his muzzle pressed against Dolly. "I don't know, why can't YOU get off my case for once?! You always have to act like my second mom whenever I do so much as kick an empty can!" Dolly snapped back. "What on earth is going on?!" I asked, wanting to know what was the cause of the two fighting now, with Dylan and Dolly both having contrasting personalities and tolerances, it was evident that the two sometimes butted heads with each other which I've seen once or twice growing up with the Dalmatians. "Another bout of division! Only a matter of time before they damn one another to darkness!" Dante dreaded, making me roll my eyes until I looked down at the floor to see a picture frame that had a family portrait of all the Dalmatians in the family with Dolly, Dylan and I in the center. The wooden frame itself had been bent and almost snapped in half, almost tearing the portrait. This must be what they were arguing about.
"If you had just watched where you were going with your menace of a skateboard or instead just used it outside, I wouldn't have to be so stressed out about this!" Dylan fought back, which explained to me what had happened to the portrait in the first place. "Like you weren't trying to keep it safe! You put the stupid portrait there!" Dolly tried to justify herself, though it was sounding like she was trying to make it so that Dylan was in the wrong, the male Dalmatian however had this to defend himself with. "Well maybe if SOMEONE would stop messing around and actually help me keep the house clean for once whilst keeping our siblings in check, I'd have time to put the portrait somewhere safer!" Dolly was now growling as I, Dante and a few of my other brothers and sisters could only watch in growing concern. "Messing around?! That's what you call me trying to make everyday fun for the family when they want nothing to do with your boring geek crap?!" After she said that, I could just about see red in Dylan's eyes.
"You know what?! My life would be so much better if my sister didn't have to be so irresponsible and actually listened to a single word I said for once so I wouldn't have to be in her eyes 'a nagging second mum'!"
"FUCK YOU, DYLAN!" Dolly suddenly snapped straight after Dylan's rant and the entire room went silent.
In all my years so far of living with Dolly and Dylan, never have any of their heated arguments escalated to that kind of level. The latter was lost for words whilst Dolly meanwhile still had an enraged look in her eyes and what she said next was possibly the worst thing you could ever say to your own sibling.
"Your life is so hard? WELL MY LIFE WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER IF I DIDN'T HAVE SUCH A GEEKY ANNOYING PAIN IN THE ASS BROTHER AT ALL!" And just like that, she stormed off, brushing past me as we all watched her vanish upstairs.
I looked back at Dylan who's face was a mix of two emotions. Shock and sorrow. I just can't believe Dolly would say that to him after what they've been through for 28 years and I could tell that her words had hit Dylan real hard as seconds later, his face started to quiver like he was trying to hold back tears and before I knew it, he ran off in the other direction.
"Dylan, wait!" I quickly held out a hand and tried to run after him but felt a hand grab my wrist and stop me, I looked behind to see Dawkins look at me. "Leave him be, Cody… I think he just wants to be alone right now." He said, looking just as worried as I was.
I should've just said something. I should've done something to break them up before Dolly could do the unspeakable and because I just stood there and watched, my oldest brother and sister were possibly at the risk of never speaking to each other again. Of all the times we could've had Deepak help to diffuse the situation and he just had to be busy undergoing a meditation session with his mentor, Constantine. I sighed as I heeded Dawkins' advice and left the room to think, but not before putting the broken portrait on a table so that no one would accidentally step on it and make it even worse.
I sat alone in the park, night had already fallen and the area itself was devoid of any human or anthro life. Not even the Dimitris had noticed me leaving out the door to the park which was more of an advantage to me since I needed to be alone to think about what I had witnessed. Even if Dolly was the main culprit, I still felt responsible for not trying to resolve the situation before it could get any worse. The last words that Dolly said to Dylan before she stormed off echoed in my mind as I recalled Dylan's reaction to said words. Of course any person would've been just as upset if their sibling said such words to them. I let out a little groan as I rested my head against my hand, unable to feel nothing but sympathy for poor Dylan and regret for not stopping Dolly from spewing those hurtful words at him.
"Oh dear… I can sense a lot of emotional distress within you." A female slightly echoed voice suddenly spoke out, snapping me out of my train of thought. I looked around to see who it was that spoke to me but I couldn't see anybody within my vicinity. The voice itself was one I did not recognise especially from my past when all of a sudden, I saw a figure with it's hand on a tree facing me.
It was a Dalmatian who appeared to be in her early twenties, her body shape being a dead giveaway on her gender, but unlike the many that I had seen and known, this one appeared to be transparent. And by that, I meant I could actually see through it, a layer of fog emanated from where she stood as she slowly approached me. She had very few spots on her, the only ones I could see were the single one on her left cheek and the one on top of her head, her ears almost looked liked Dolly's only they were wider and shorter and hung in a way that if you looked at her from the front, you'd see only the pink underside of them. Clothing wise, she had a long white shirt with wide sleeves, denim pants that were so long that the ends practically covered her paws, only her toes stuck out and from what I could just about see, her paws were in a pair of brown sandals. Lastly, she was wearing a necklace with the medal being a silver peace symbol.
"Hello there, Cody. It's quite nice to see one of my great grandnephews all grown up." She said with a gentle smile. Suddenly, it made sense to me. I quickly recalled back to a time when mum showed me a photo album that contained not just photos of her great-grandparents, Pongo and Perdita, but also photos of their children which in turn were her grandaunts and granduncles and what I was seeing in front of me was no doubt one of her grandaunts.
"G-Great Grandaunt Cadpig?" I stammered out as my eyes were locked on the see-through Dalmatian in question. Was I really talking to the ghost of Cadpig? I was never one of those that believed in ghosts, but rather I just didn't know if they actually existed or not. Was what I was seeing and talking to really proof of that or was this all a dream?
"Oh please, just Cadpig is fine." She said with a giggle as something else came to mind. If mum had told me that Cadpig was still alive when she was younger, then why did she look so young? "I know what you're wondering. You see, soon after you pass away and you decide to visit the world of the living, you're free to have your spirit form appear as how you'd want it to be. I chose to be in my twenties so I can not only be youthful but be able to give my wisdom without suffering the risk of forgetting at an old age. It's the best of both worlds!" She explained, having somehow knew what I was going to ask. So she really was a ghost. Have to admit, the idea of being able to choose how you want your ghost to appear age-wise is an interesting idea, almost like you're creating an avatar in a video game.
"Now tell me, sweetheart. What is it that has you troubled?" Cadpig asked in a gentle tone as she sat next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. Instead of the weight of where her hand should be, all I felt was a rather cool chill on said shoulder. I explained to her what had happened back in Dalmatian Street as she listened intently to every word I said.
"Ah. I see now. It's nothing more than common sibling rivalry." Cadpig explained before continuing. "Trust me, I have endured quite a lot of that, especially with my brothers, Lucky and Rolly. And like Dolly has done, my siblings have sometimes said some things they shouldn't have in the heat of the moment. However, that's all a part of being a family. Everyone makes mistakes and we learn from them. And in the end, the ones who hurt their siblings will come around and realise they were wrong and try to make up for what they did." She finished as I took this into thought. "And Cody, sweetie? Don't blame yourself for being unable to calm the situation. There are arguments that only the ones involved can resolve." She told me reassuringly, stroking my cheek with a hand. "What you can do however is after you've given them some time alone, you can check on them and perhaps encourage Dolly to think about what she did and have her and Dylan reconcile." She instructed me with a smile which I returned.
"I will. Thanks, Cadpig." I said before hugging her, feeling nothing solid and instead just felt more of that cold breeze, but she returned the embrace regardless. "Just remember, siblings are not immune to battle with each other, but that's only because they're unique. And being unique is what makes you stand out as a person." That was the last thing she said to me before she suddenly faded to nothing. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, staring at where Cadpig was just seconds ago. My only guess being that she had returned to Heaven now that her work was done. Knowing what I had to do, I sat up from the park bench and made a beeline straight for home.
The very first thing I did as soon as I entered the front door hallway was head straight up to Dolly's room. I knocked on her room door and spoke out.
"Dolly? It's me, Cody. Mind if I come in and talk with you?" All I heard in response was a faint "Mh..." which didn't answer my question but knowing that I couldn't just walk away now, I went ahead and opened her door. The room was pretty dark due to it already being night-time, the only light being provided from outside with the light of the moon coming through her window. I found the Dalmatian in question laid on her stomach on her bed, head resting on her arms and turned away from the door. I walked over to her bed and sat on the end of it, my footsteps being audible enough for her to know of my presence as I looked at my sister, wondering if she was going to say something.
"...I didn't mean it." I heard her mumble under her breath, her tone sounding despondent. "I just… I just got so frustrated and..." She tried to explain but was unable to finish her sentence. I reached over and rubbed her shoulder gently which made her turn her head to glance at me, giving me a good view of her face, her expression being further evidence that she deeply regretted what she had said to Dylan. "Dylan was right to be angry at me… I should've watched where I was going and maybe not skateboarded in our house. He does so much for us and I just made him feel like I take him for granted." Dolly sat up, staring down sadly at the floor.
"Then maybe you should tell him you're sorry." I suggested as her eyes met mine. "I thought about it… But what if it doesn't work? …What if… What if he hates me now?" Dolly questioned with worry as I remembered what Cadpig had told me and tried to forward her advice onto my sister.
"Dolly, no one in this world is perfect. You made a mistake and you can still make up for it. I'm sure Dylan will understand." I reassured her as she looked back down at the floor in thought for a moment before getting up off her bed as did I and we both headed downstairs, both of us having a good idea on where Dylan would be.
We both peered into the tree house to find my eldest brother curled up against the floor without a word. I took one look at Dolly and could tell she felt even more guilty about her words upon seeing Dylan like this. We both looked at each other before entering the tree house and slowly approaching our brother.
"Hey Dylan…" Dolly mumbled out, her hands together. Dylan didn't utter out a response, making me gently nudge Dolly to get her to continue as she knelt down to him. "I didn't mean what I said… My life wouldn't be better if you weren't there to keep us safe and in a clean house. If you were never born then… I don't think most of us would be here right now. You were right. I should've been more careful and instead I just… took it out on you. ...I'm really sorry." Dolly said as sincerely as possible. We didn't see Dylan do anything for a moment until he moved his head to face us, his cheeks stained with dry tears. "I-I do love you, bro! I really do! I probably would've been in serious trouble or worse if it weren't for you! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Dolly finally let out, her eyes clenched shut as tears threatened to leave them. Meanwhile I could only watch with worry as Dylan continued to remain silent throughout Dolly's apology, but all that washed away when I saw him get up and pull Dolly into an embrace.
"...I'm sorry too. What I said to you was a bit too much as well." Dylan explained as Dolly chuckled, wiping her eyes and returning the embrace. All the while, my heart felt warm at the two sharing the long hug until I felt Dolly grab my arm and pull me into the huddle, making it a group hug.
"DYLAN AND DOLLY RADCLIFFE DALMATIAN, GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Our hug was suddenly cut short when we heard the distant shout of mum reach our ears from inside the house. Oh crap, they were home and judging by mum's tone, she had found the broken portrait and was not happy. I swallowed the chill that went down my spine from hearing mum so angry before turning to leave the tree house until Dolly stopped me.
"Oh no you don't, bro! I don't think I could ever sleep at night knowing you took the rap for this one!" Dolly said, gently shoving me aside and heading straight out into the garden and for the house. "D-Dolly, are you sure?!" Dylan rushed to the tree house entryway as Dolly just smiled at us. "Dylan, this is what sisters are for. I'll be fine." She said before she vanished into our home, no doubt gonna face a hell of a punishment from mum. As proud as we both were with Dolly for taking responsibility for her mess up, Dylan and I couldn't help but share a concerned look for what her consequence would be.